Before Taking the Assessment
What type of organization is this Assessment for?
We believe that the Assessment is ideal for DEI and HR directors of progressive organizations with 100-10,000 employees that already understand the importance of DEI.
Who’s the team behind the Assessment?
The team behind the Assessment is the Equality Institute, a DEI consulting firm located in Chicago. Founder and CEO Bernadette Smith is a keynote speaker and the award-winning author of four books, including the book which inspired the assessment: Inclusive 360: Proven Solutions for an Equitable Organization.
I’m a DEI Consultant. Can I use the Assessment with my clients?
Absolutely. The Inclusive 360 Assessment is available to DEI Consultants for use with their own clients as part of your own consulting work. We can even tailor the content and deliver the tool with your own branding. Contact us to learn more.
How is the Assessment priced?
The off-the-shelf assessment is priced at $10,000 for organizations for a one year, which includes office hours with our team. Extended access is available for subsequent years. DEI Consultants who want to license the tool should contact us to discuss the variables.
Why should we do this instead of hiring a DEI professional to do a custom Assessment?
Hiring an expert to facilitate your DEI assessment can be very expensive. With Inclusive 360, you can save money that you can use for your DEI initiatives. Our assessment and roadmap are designed to give you everything you need to improve your DEI efforts — the same way we do it with our custom clients. If you’d like to work with us on custom DEI strategy, we’d be happy to work with you on a more comprehensive engagement. Contact us to learn more.
How was the Assessment built? How did you come up with the questions?
The assessment was built, in part, based on Bernadette Smith’s book Inclusive 360. Other content pulls best practices from the world’s leading organizations and the Global Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Benchmarks (GDEIB) standards.
While Taking the Assessment
How Do You Support Us In Completing the Assessment?
We’ll send you copies of the book Inclusive 360: Proven Solutions for an Equitable Organization. Plus, you’ll receive simple, easy-to-understand instructions and worksheets to help you build your assessment team, create a timeline, facilitate the kickoff meeting, make decisions, and plan a communication strategy. Reach out to us during office hours if you get stuck. We’re here for you every step of the way.
Is this process complicated?
No! We provide the worksheets and even an Assessment Identifier to help you figure out who to involve on your Assessment team. We provide access to office hours to help you get quickly unstuck.
What if we can only do a portion of the Assessment?
When you order the assessment, you get one year access included, so you can take your time. You can start the assessment, save your work as you go, and finish it when you have the time.
Who needs to be involved?
Our Assessment Identifier helps you identify the right people from your organization to bring together to complete the assessment.
What if leaders/managers aren’t willing to cooperate? What if we can’t get buy-in?
We advise you to wait until you have sufficient buy-in and can provide you with some data and/or talking points to support your efforts.
After Taking the Assessment
Do we get a score at the end?
No, we don’t issue scores because we don’t believe DEI can be fully measured with a number. Instead, we provide a custom DEI roadmap, specifically showing your organization’s areas of greatest DEI success and areas of greatest DEI opportunities. Our specific, action-oriented solutions will help your organization and employees create and implement effective DEI plans.
What happens after we take the Assessment?
After you take the assessment, you’ll receive your customized DEI roadmap. The roadmap is always organized by department and can be sorted in two ways to make your DEI journey instantly actionable for you.
You can sort the roadmap by the importance of the action (foundational, quick wins, medium term, long term.) Or sort the roadmap by action item type. The action items fall within four categories (process, policy, program, partnership).
The roadmap also allows you to assign collaborators, tasks, and deadlines to each action item, serving as a project management tool along your DEI journey.
Does this Assessment include an Employee Engagement Survey?
No, but we happily refer you to our partners CultureAmp and Aleria.
Does the Assessment include focus groups and interviews?
No, our assessment doesn’t include qualitative analysis such as focus groups or interviews, but we can provide that service if you are interested. Reach out to us to learn more.
How will we know if it’s working?
The assessment tells you what data to begin collecting to establish your baseline. From there you can measure your progress.
Is there some sort of follow-up to know we’re doing this right?
If you follow the instructions in your DEI roadmap, you’re doing it right! But for extra support, visit us during office hours. We’ll meet with you one-on-one and answer any questions that come up for you.
What if we don’t have the financial resources to make the recommended changes?
The DEI roadmap includes some no to low-cost action items (such as policy changes) that your organization can take to get started and build momentum. There are a lot of changes you can make within your organization that don’t require financial resources.